Ghandi

OVERCOMING PREJUDICE – James 2:1-13

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INTRODUCTION:

It is impossible to judge another person’s motives.  And yet we have a tendency to do just that.  We also cannot determine the heart of a person in a first-time encounter.  Initial impressions may not always be right because we all have some built-in prejudices.

I.  THE PRINCIPLE (Verse 1)

In James 2:1,  James is saying, “Faith in God and partiality are incompatible.”  They don’t go together.  The term “favoritism”‘ in verse 1 comes from two Greek words, combined to mean “to receive by face”, and has the thought of accepting or welcoming someone by face value alone.  The term, “favoritism”, is found in only three other New Testament passages, and in each instance, it is made clear that God does not respect faces.  He judges by the heart. The Lord Jesus wasn’t prejudiced.  In Luke 14:12 it says of Jesus, “And He went on to say to the one who had invited Him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment comes to you.  But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you;  for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’ ”  Even Jesus’ enemies knew that Jesus was not prejudiced.  In Matthew 22:16 the Herodians said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one, for you are not partial to any.” Prejudice can run so deep that it sometimes takes a tragedy to make one see how wrong it is to discriminate on the basis of physical differences.  An article in the newspaper several years ago told of a truck driver who learned the hard way how bigoted he was.  He had no use for blacks – until one saved his life.  It was shortly after l a.m. when his tanker truck flipped over and burst into flames.  A week later he lay in his hospital bed crying openly, for he was looking into the face of a black man who had used his own coat and his bare hands to smother the flames of what had been a human torch.  Needless to say, this was one white man who, with tears of appreciation, learned to see through skin color.

II.  THE PRINCIPLE ILLUSTRATED (verses 2-4)

In verse 2, James is talking about two people:  one rich and the other poor.  The words “gold ring” literally mean “gold-fingered”, suggesting that this man was wearing many gold rings.  Also, his clothes were made of the finest materials.  The usher was faced with a choice:  where should he seat these two people.  Matthew 23:6 helps us better understand this situation by telling us that there were “chief seats” in the synagogues,  The Pharisees loved these chief seats which must have been located down in front because they could enter the synagogue in their elegant robes and march toward the front, calling attention to themselves.  Faced with this decision, the usher based his decision on externals only. James says in verse 4 that this is discrimination, and their motives are evil.  If there is one place where class distinctions should break down, it is in a place of worship.  Distinctions such as age, color, money, status, rank, size, and clothing should mean nothing.  Jesus said to the multitude in John 7:24, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

III.  THE PRINCIPLE EXPLAINED (verses 5-11)

In verses 5-11, James gives three arguments why prejudice is wrong.  First, prejudice is not true of God.  He says in verse 5, “Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?”  Whether we are physically rich or poor, unless we recognize our spiritual poverty and our need for a Savior, we will never experience the riches of faith in Christ, and receive an eternal inheritance from God.  Secondly, God isn’t concerned about wealth or poverty, but about the condition of a person’s soul.  The people James is writing to were exalting the rich, and yet it was these rich people who were the very ones who were causing their pain and injury.  Thirdly, in verses 8-11, James is saying that prejudice is sinful because it is against the Scriptures.  One of the laws God gave to Moses was, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Showing partiality is a violation of that law.

Children in England used to play a game called “Saints and Sinners”.  A hoop was set up at a certain distance, and the children were given ten arrows each.  The object of the game was to aim them at the hoop.  If anyone shot ALL of the arrows through the hoop, he was proclaimed a “saint”.  If he missed just once, he was called a “sinner”.  If he missed with all ten arrows, he was no greater sinner than if he missed with only one!  One error was as bad as ten!  That was the rule of the game.  The same is true spiritually.  The Lord Jesus never “missed the mark”, but kept God’s law perfectly.  All others have sinned and come short of God’s standard.  Therefore there is no excuse for prejudice because we are all equally sinners.

Let me share with you two stories about what has happened in the lives of two people as a result of the prejudice they experienced from Christians.  A little boy named Joseph had polio.  Someone finally took him to Sunday school, but the teacher neglected him.  Later the young people ridiculed him and then avoided him because of his crippled condition.  As a result, he dropped out of the class with a hatred for the church and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He did, however, continue his studies in school.  When he finally earned his doctorate from Heidelberg University, a man slipped his arm around him, saying, “Joseph, I think a lot of you;  you and I could do much together.  The young man responded warmly to this attention and encouragement, and in time Joseph Goebbels became the propaganda minister for that man:  Adolf Hitler!  Many wondered afterward what would have happened if that Sunday school teacher had shown love to this apparently unwanted individual, and had led him to the Lord.  If the young people had befriended this needy person instead of ridiculing him, he might have become a minister for Christ instead of the Nazis.

Another case is a terrible incident that occurred in the life of Mahatma Gandhi.  This man, who later gained world attention, says in his autobiography that in his student days he was truly interested in the Bible.  Deeply touched by reading the gospels, he seriously considered becoming a convert.  Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.  One Sunday he went to a nearby church to attend services.  He decided to see the minister and ask for instruction in the way of salvation, and enlightenment on other doctrines.  But when he entered the sanctuary, the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go and worship with his own people.  He left and never came back.  “If Christians have cast differences also”, he said to himself, “I might as well remain a Hindu”.  He became one of the most famous people in the history of India and was a champion for the civil rights movement there, but he was never given the opportunity to experience the freedom of becoming a child of God because of the prejudice of a man who claimed to be a minister of Christ.

IV.  THE PRINCIPLE APPLIED (verses 12-13)

One of the tests of the genuineness of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is how we treat other people.  Can we pass the test?  We all show prejudice at times, don’t we?  Are there people you won’t talk to, or even acknowledge their presence, because of racial, social, economic, or educational factors?  Are there others who treat you that way, and you are following their example?

Are we obeying the Scriptures and following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ in our treatment of others?  I’m closing with a short prayer that Billy Graham offers in one of his devotionals:  “Heavenly Father, fill me with that supernatural love of Jesus that enables me to reach out to the myriads of people who, in and of myself, would be impossible to love.”

 

RIGHT LIVING – Philippians 4:9

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INTRODUCTION:

In Philippians 4:8 we learned about right thinking.  And it takes right thinking and right attitudes to produce right living.  In verse 9, Paul challenges the members of the church in Philippi to respond to the four ways that his life has been an example for them to follow.  Let’s take a look at what Paul wants them to gain from his life.

I.  WHAT YOU HAVE “LEARNED”.

Paul had spent time in Philippi where he gave personal instruction and discipling to the Philippians.  The Greek word, “emathete”, is related to the noun “mathetes” which means learner or disciple.  A  “mathetes” was one who attached himself to another person in order to gain knowledge and experience.  It would be somewhat similar to an apprenticeship today.  In first century Judaism the rabbis had disciples who studied under them.  The disciple left his home and moved in with his teacher and served his teacher.  The disciple was expected, not only to learn all that his rabbi knew, but also to become like his teacher in character and piety.

The apostle Paul had been a pharisee himself.  In Acts 22:3 he tells the Jewish leaders that he had studied under the pharisee Gamaliel.  In Acts 5:34 Gamaliel is described as “a pharisee . . . a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people.”  In the Greek culture also, discipleship was not so much formal training as it was fellowship with the teacher.  They lived with their teacher just as Jesus’ disciples lived with Him.  Disciples were the main means of perpetuating teaching in the ancient world, since many of the great teachers wrote no books.

II.  WHAT YOU HAVE “RECEIVED”.

The Greek word, “paralambano”, means to “take with oneself”, “to make it one’s own”.  Receiving should always accompany learning truth.  The Philippians not only understood it clearly, but also gave assent to it, and by so doing, they became responsible to live it out. This receiving of the Word of God is seen in the church at Thessalonica.  Paul writes in I Thessalonians 2:13, “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God’s message, you accepted it not only as the word of men but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”  It is one thing to learn a truth, but it is even better to receive that truth and make your own.

III.  WHAT YOU HAVE “HEARD”.

Paul is saying “what you have heard firsthand from my preaching, teaching, and conversations with you”.  He is also  saying, “what you have heard from others concerning me”.  Paul is speaking about his reputation.  They had heard from many other sources about Paul’s imprisonment, how he got there, and the way God was using him.

IV.  WHAT YOU HAVE “SEEN IN ME”.

Paul is talking about firsthand knowledge of him:  their personal observations of Paul while they were with him in Philippi.   Paul is saying, “do as I taught you”, and he is also saying, “do as you heard of me doing and saw me doing”.

Mahatma Ghandi was the man who led the country of India to independence in the early to mid 1900’s.  He also inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights, and freedom around the world.  Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, were followers of his philosophy of non-violent resistance.  As far as we can know, Gandhi never became a Christian.  When he was asked to put his message into one simple sentence, he replied:  “My life is my message”.

Personal example is an essential element of effective teaching.  The teacher must demonstrate in action the faith he expresses in words.  Remember that before the completion of the New Testament scriptures, the lives of the apostles furnished the main source of divine truth.  As Paul told them earlier in Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us”.

THE EXHORTATION:

Paul concludes by exhorting them to “practice these things”.  Make them a way of life. Dr. Dwight Pentecost summarizes the purpose of truth very clearly in these words:  “Truth is communicated to a person through the channel of his mind, and truth is grasped by the mind. But unless that which is received by the mind is loved by the heart and translated into action by the will, the truth has not done its proper work.  Truth is designed to possess the total person.  Truth is not designed simply to teach the mind;  truth is communicated  so the heart might respond in obedience to the truth.  Blessing comes on the believer as he translates into action the truth that his mind has received.  Maturity in the Christian life is not measured by what a man knows but by what he does.”  He concludes his explanation by saying:  “Let that be indelibly impressed upon your mind.”

THE PROMISE:

The apostle Paul ends this verse with a promise:  “the God of peace will be with you”.  This is a favorite saying of the apostle Paul.  He uses it at or near the end of many of his letters, for example, Romans, II Corinthians, and I and II Thessalonians.   Peace comes as a result of following the pattern of Christ:  having right attitudes, right thoughts, and right actions.  When we follow these instructions Paul says that “the God of peace will be with you”.  And if He is with us, we have no reason for worry, and our lives can be filled with joy, right?  Dr. Vernon Grounds, the president of Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary for many years, gave this exhortation:  “Pray, then, that like Paul we may live out our lives before the watching world”.